For the third quarter ended December 2002, sales of Navneet Publications improved 9 per cent over the previous corresponding quarter to Rs 33.04 crore (Rs 30.29 crore). Operational cost went up by a much higher percentage (14 per cent over the year-ago period) to Rs 28.62 crore (Rs 25.15 crore) and so operating profit slumped by 14 per cent against the previous corresponding quarter to Rs 4.42 crore (Rs 5.15 crore). OPM at 13 per cent was 4 percentage points below the 17 per cent it reported during the same period last year. Depreciation was up by a massive 50 per cent to Rs 2.14 crore (Rs 1.42 crore) pulling down the before tax profits by 43 per cent from the same period last year to Rs 2.52 crore (Rs 4.40 crore). A lower profit before tax saw the tax provision dipping by 40 per cent to Rs 0.76 crore (Rs 1.27 crore) eventually leading to a 44 per cent decline in the net profit over the previous corresponding quarter to Rs 1.76 crore (Rs 3.12 crore). Navneet, which enjoys a monopoly like status in educational publishing in Maharashtra has been surprisingly slipping on performance. The stock however is still richly valued at 33 times its December quarter annualised EPS of Rs 3.69 at a price of Rs 121.10. Not cheap considering its recent growth rates.

D-LINK

D-Link (I) Ltd has put up a decent performance for the third quarter ended December. Net sales were up 17 per cent from the year-ago period to Rs 41.28 crore (Rs 35.15 crore), while the operational costs went up 12 per cent to Rs 35.75 crore (Rs 32.05 crore). Operating profit grew 78 per cent to Rs 5.53 crore (Rs 3.10 crore). OPM moved up from 9 per cent during the previous corresponding quarter to 13 per cent during this quarter. The before tax profits having moved up 99 per cent over the previous corresponding period to Rs 4.81 crore (Rs 2.42 crore) saw the tax provision swell 232 per cent to Rs 0.83 crore (Rs 0.25 crore). Net profit growth was 84 per cent at Rs 3.98 crore (Rs 2.17 crore). The stock is considerably down from its May 2002 peak and currently trades at Rs 54 discounting its December quarter annualised EPS of Rs 26.51 by a measly 10 times.

HENKEL SPIC

For the third quarter ended December, consumer goods player, Henkel Spic has reported just a 2 per cent increase in both net sales and operational expenditure respectively. Net sales for the quarter were Rs 91.31 crore (Rs 89.77 crore) while operational costs stood at Rs 86.23 crore (Rs 84.45 crore). The general sluggishness of the personal products industry was evident in the margins ó operating profit fell by 5 per cent over the year-ago period to Rs 5.08 crore (Rs 5.32 crore) while OPM was stagnant at 6 per cent. Other income declined and interest was up 22 per cent over the year-ago period to Rs 2.45 crore (Rs 2.01 crore). Depreciation at Rs 1.63 crore (Rs 1.44 crore) was 13 per cent above the previous corresponding quarter, in turn pulling down the before tax profits. With no tax provisioning the companyís net profit stood at Rs 1.06 crore (Rs 2.03 crore) 48 per cent below the year-ago period. Currently trading at Rs 18.70, the stock discounts its December quarter annualised EPS of Rs 0.36 by a huge 51 times.

ADLABS FILMS

The success of Adlabsís ambitious multiplex project and its position as a premier film processing company in the country is truly reflecting on the financial performance with income from operations registering a good 31 per cent growth over the previous corresponding quarter. Against this, operational costs have gone up by just about 13 per cent to Rs 11.53 crore (Rs 10.21 crore) resulting in a smart 80 per cent improvement in operating profit which stood at Rs 6.89 crore (Rs 3.83 crore). OPM shot up from 27 per cent during the previous corresponding quarter to 37 per cent during the current quarter. Other income declined 7 per cent over the previous corresponding quarter to Rs 1 crore (Rs 1.08 crore) while interest was negligible. Depreciation moved up by 29 per cent to Rs 1.09 crore (Rs 0.84 crore) resulting in a 78 per cent improvement in the before tax profits at Rs 6.52 crore (Rs 3.67 crore). Higher profits before tax saw the tax provision bulge by a huge 96 per cent to Rs 2.44 crore (Rs 1.25 crore) despite which the net profit rose 69 per cent over the previous corresponding quarter to Rs 4.08 crore (Rs 2.42 crore). The stock is currently trading at Rs 50 discounting its December quarter annualised EPS of Rs 7.60 by seven times. Cheap at these levels.